With another potential COVID-19 surge looming in the U.S., experts are turning their attention to a pair of new variants that are steadily spreading: BQ.1 and BQ.1.1.
Both BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are descendents of BA.5, an Omicron variant that currently accounts for about 68% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. But BA.5’s relatives are quickly gaining ground. BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 each accounted for 5.7% of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. during the week ending Oct. 15, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In New York and New Jersey, the combined proportion of these two variants was close to 20%. A few weeks ago, these variants barely showed up on the CDC’s tracker, which suggests they’re able to spread fast.
Of the two, BQ.1.1 is more concerning, says Dr. Eric Topol, founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a close watcher of COVID-19 research. Both have a number of mutations relative to BA.5, but BQ.1.1 is “just riddled with troublesome mutations” that could “pose a threat to our immune system’s response,” Topol says.
If there’s any good news about BQ.1 and BQ.1.1, it’s related to vaccination. The new Omicron-specific boosters were designed to target BA.4 and BA.5, and preliminary research suggests they stoke an effective immune response. Since BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 are both related to BA.5, the new shots will “almost certainly” provide some cross protection, White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS News . That’s yet another reason to get boosted, which less than 10% of eligible Americans have done so far.
It’s too soon to say exactly how the bivalent boosters will work against newer strains like these, but Topol encourages anyone eligible to get one. “That’s the best thing you can do right now to arm up against any of these new variants,” Topol says. “Just keep your immune system as primed and ready as possible.”
More research is needed about BQ.1 and BQ.1.1. A study posted online earlier this month (which has not yet been peer-reviewed) warned that “current herd immunity and BA.5 vaccine boosters may not provide sufficiently broad protection against infection” as the virus continues to evolve. The researchers found that BQ.1.1 is able to evade antibodies from past BA.5 infections, which suggests it may also be able to dodge protection from vaccines. The study also found that monoclonal antibody drugs—including Evusheld, which is used to protect people who are immunocompromised and do not respond well to COVID-19 vaccines—are less effective against BQ.1.1, compared to earlier strains of the virus. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration also recently warned health care providers that Evusheld may not neutralize all variants of SARS-CoV-2.
While vaccines and boosters are currently the best tools we have to fight COVID-19, the emergence of the BQ variants is further proof that they’re not enough to fully shield people from sickness. If an evasive variant like BQ.1 or BQ.1.1 spreads widely this winter, and some lines of defense are rendered less effective, other precautions like masking and avoiding crowded indoor areas may be necessary to protect yourself from infection.
TODAY'S CORONAVIRUS OUTLOOK
More than 624.6 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 8:30 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 6.5 million people have died. On Oct. 16 there were 191,439 new cases and 415 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 10 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 96.9 million coronavirus cases as of 8:30 a.m. E.T. today. More than 1.06 million people have died. On Oct. 16, there were 6,406 new cases reported in the U.S., and 1 death was confirmed.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Oct. 17. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
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WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
Moderna will sell up to 100 million doses of its new bivalent vaccine to organizations that are part of COVAX, the global vaccine-sharing initiative that provides shots to people in low- and middle-income countries. COVAX has already distributed about 186 million doses of Moderna’s original shot, Reuters reports, but the infusion of new Omicron-specific doses will help people around the world secure updated coverage.
Globally, COVID-19 continues to shorten life expectancies—but not in every country, according to a study of 29 countries published today in Nature Human Behavior. Some places with high vaccination rates and strong population immunity, including France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Sweden, have returned to pre-pandemic life-expectancy estimates. But in the U.S. and 11 other countries included in the study, life expectancy continues to fall as the virus kills tragic numbers of people each day.
In recent months, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan have reopened their borders to tourists. But, as CNN reports, China hasn’t yet relaxed policies that are hampering its own tourism industry. As part of its aggressive “zero COVID” approach, the Chinese government has implemented strict controls on who can cross China’s borders, as well as mandatory quarantine periods for those who do. Those measures are still in place, even as other East Asian countries and territories make cautious returns to pre-pandemic systems.
People who have had COVID-19 use health-care services more than people who haven’t, found a study published today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Compared to those who hadn’t tested positive for the virus, Canadian adults who’d had COVID-19 reported more health-care encounters (including outpatient medical appointments, hospital admissions, and home-care visits) in the months following their infections. The finding suggests that the disease can have significant, lasting effects for some people, which could strain medical systems moving forward.
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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Mandy Oaklander.
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